Kenojuak Ashevak

Cape Dorset, Nunavut Territory, Canada

(1927-2013)

Kenojuak Ashevak was born October 3, 1927. Her early years were spent living a
traditional hunting lifestyle on the land at
Ikirasaq on the southern coast of Baffin Island,
residing in igloos and skin tents.

As a young woman she married Johnniebo
Ashevak in the 1950s, while living at Keakto. They
were later encouraged by James Houston, the
Canadian federal government’s administrator for
the region, to experiment in producing sculpture
and drawings to supplement their livelihood. In
1962, Terry Ryan took over the arts-advisor role
and continued to advise and support Kenojuak
and Johnniebo, introducing them to new
techniques and mediums, like the copper-etching
process. In 1966 they moved off the land into the
Cape Dorset community to provide schooling
opportunities for their children and continued to
work closely together as artists until Johnniebo’s
untimely demise in 1972.

Kenojuak is possibly the most renowned Inuit
artist ever — and today is regarded as a great
Canadian national treasure. From her humble
beginnings she emerged to become regarded
as one of the most notable pioneers of modern
Inuit art. She received every conceivable award
and honour that any Canadian could acquire in
the arts. Her imagery has been displayed on
Canadian stamps and coins, her life portrayed in
books and films, and her art sought all over the
world by collectors, corporations and museums.
Over the years, she received commissions to
produce images for institutions, charities, cultural
events and celebrations, as well as becoming the
first Inuit to design a stained-glass window for
a chapel in Ontario. Her 1960 print Enchanted
Owl has become an iconic image in Canadian art
and her 1959 print Rabbit Eating Seaweed is one
of the rarest images in Inuit art.

Since the very first showing of Inuit graphics in
1959, she contributed to every Cape Dorset
annual print release since. She was a stalwart of
the West Baffin Co-operative print shop and also
a carver who created many wonderful sculptures
(until 2001, when it became simply too physically
demanding for her).